The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-10-23
PLAIN MIR. GLADSTONE.
The Peerless British States
man at His Home.
BIS HABITS AND HIS CUSTOMS.
How He is Respected by All Glasses of
PeOple-A Man of Great
Power.

Hawarden is happily out of the way
of the tourist. The railway station is
recognized only by the slOwest OF &C
commodation trains, for the village is
one of profound indifference to the ex-
elements of The political and CONNER
cial world. The home of the Gladstones
is not only trying distance from the
station, but so isolated that only very
strong limbs, coupled with intense
curiosity, can carry there any unbidden
guest. 1t is still more remote from the
busting town of Chester, to whose
stream of trade it is modest tributary.
The distance from Chester to the lodge
of the Duke of Westminster is q good
two-mlle trudge over turnpike not al
ways in the best condition tor either
man o. beast, and the journey to the
Gladstone house is still farther, with no
resting place between.
Nevertheless, so intense is the per-
sonaI feeling which Gladstone inspires.
and which has greatly increased in the
last five years, that excursion parties
are ormed not only in England but in
Scotland to visit Hawarden for the sole
pui pose of sending up volleys of cheers
from the lawn around the simple but
stately country house. Hundreds walk
from the HaNarden station. or all the
way { om Chester, thinking nothing of
fatigue. and gather in mass-meeting on
the driveway. waiting as meekly as cat
| tie in the fields for the thrilling tones of
the throat that has spoken England 5
highest thought in craftsmanship, and
gone down with statutes of emancipatO /
among the loWliest of her millions.
Working away in his library, the old
man is told that crowd Is
outside and would be pleased
to STE him. He drops his pen or
book as soon as mental convenience Will
admit, dons sn Old hat, seeks Mrs. Glad
stone, who throws some light wrap
over her shoulders, and veil of black
lace or silk netting over her very gray
hair, and out they go together like BOY
and girl.
The lawn terrace is eight feet higher
than the roadway, and is reached by
wooden stairs descending from narrow
platform. Standing on this platform
the two GladstoneS greet the people,
who cheer and cheer and wave hats ana
handkerchiefs and umbre las. Then, if
the old man be hOarse or not in mood
for talk, Mrs Gladstone, leaning over
the edge OF the platform, tells the PEG
pie in a Silvery. clear voice, that Mr..
Gladstone is delighted to see them. and
is than kful for the cordial feeling which
- fn- As,r fE,r hS,S =,
| not well, thsy will kindly excuse him
from speaking. Cheers are mingled
! with expressions of sympathy, aud if
there be not too many of them Mrs.
| Gladstone invites them up to the plat
form, where q patient scene of hand
shaking is gone through, with smiles on
! the old mans face and happiness shin
| ing out of his glorious old eyes. 1t is not
unusual for the eXGursiOnlsts to bring
little OFFERINGS with them of game or
fruit or flowers, and the most graceful
acknowledgements always follow their
| presentation.
Before the happy crowd, With mater
ial enough for three months local COS
sip, ia oul of hearing-and they will be
half an hour in sight-the old man of
II is back in his library. He is there
from an early hour in the morning.
While not sun-Worshiper, nor ri val
of the lark, he is up in time to catch the
full breath OF the morning after the sun
has driven the fogs away and warmed
the air in The fields. He is fond of
plenty of cool water for bathing, is
carefully shaver every morning, and
can do it for himself when he feels so
disposed. He dresses, or rather is
dressed by Mrs. Gladstone, with care
and taste, his linen being OF the finest,
his hose silken, his apparel brushed and
kept in the most perfec condition by
domestic skill. The family meet for
morning prayers in the breakfast-room
and the old man, or one of hi house
hold, which contains several represen-
tatives of the church, directs the ser
vice with earnest devotion.
Sometimes hs is out for brisk stroll
before he breaks his fast, but his habit
is rather to take light bit, nothing
more than dry plain bread and the best
of tea, before leaving the house. The
country around his home deserves the
| attachment he has cultivated for its
| fields and trees, for the stretch of
shadowy woods a good walk off, for the
gentle upland that glides away from the
| house, and whose mild assent quickens
a vigorous pulse. Mr.. Gladstone owes
his marvellous strength to very sim pie
causes. He has always avoided Excess
sive stimulation, whether from rich
food or alcoholic liquor; he has always
lived a part of every day when the
weather permitted-and he is not
| afraid of a storm even now-out of
doors; and he has never tolerated stale
air when engaged in mental work. His
house is well equipped with windows
and doors; windows RAINING from cell
ing to floor along the sides OF his great
and, beautiful drawIng-room open
directly on the lawn; and his library
packed with books, none of them under
glass, is aired continually by the open
| ing of the windows and the sending of
fresh currents through its orderly col
umns.
He goes out Of it frequently for short
intervals. in order that the dead air,
whose oxygen has been so largely alb
sorbed by the book bindings, may be
expelled and invigoratiDg draughts
| substituted before his return. He does
most of his writing in his library, but
ne reads everywhere-in the drawing
room, on the lawn, up in the sitting
| room Of his daug hters, or in the music
room, in which, on the second floor, is